Search results

There was an air of artificial heresy about the paper published by Green and Nordstrom in 1974. They hailed the merits of being a “disloyal buyer” at a time when the world reality was one of oil and other raw material shortages, when the scales of market power were tipping inevitably towards the seller rather than the buyer. They argued that too often the loyal buyer is taken for granted by the supplier who is always more eager, led by his greed, to pursue the potential market at the expense of “good old Sam” whose longstanding custom is deliberately expoited. Green and Nordstrom therefore believe that greater opportunism will pay higher dividends to the buyer.

Materials Administration, Materials Management and most of the other integrative concepts which have been proposed, have one feature in common. They emphasise the need to view the system to which they relate as a whole. A key argument of those who promote these concepts is often that problems occur between departments or functions more often than in them. Thus is follows, continues the argument, that a system‐wide view aimed at co‐ordinating objectives, strategies and operations would help to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the whole system. But what is this “whole system”? Where do its boundaries lie? Are we talking about the firm, the industry or the economy? As far as this paper is concerned, the relevant system comprises more than the individual firm and includes the set of suppliers to the firm. It is the main theme of the paper that the benefits of taking a holistic perspective in this way may be the prelude to achieving enhanced efficiency not only to the individual firms concerned but possibly to the economy as a whole. It is argued that the traditional competitive model of buyer‐supplier behaviour in industrial materials markets is inadequate and that the incumbents of both roles can benefit by taking a longer term and wider perspective and working together to improve the effectiveness of the overall relationship.

How does the concept and exercise of public relations in British industry compare with that of the United States? Not at all favourably, according to this report.

Explains the model which underlies the Institute of Directors′ Standards of Good Practice for Boards of Directors produced in association with Henley Management College. These standards were derived from an extensive, rigorous research and consultation process over a period of two‐and‐a‐half years involving over 1,000 directors. The model consists of three major parts: organizing and running the board; personal competences and knowledge; and the tasks of the board which are supported by indicators of good practice.

Much has been written about the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the need to assure its importance through formal regulation and reporting requirements. Little reflection has taken place on the role of the market in achieving effective regulation and behaviour changes in this area through an analysis of stock values. This study seeks to fill that gap by presenting an analysis of CSR influences on stock values facilitated by the regulatory methods of the stock markets.

The 90 shares of the US Dow Jones Sustainability Index were chosen as the sample of firms with “value‐generating CSR”. The performance of these individual shares was analysed by comparing their return with the relevant indexes, with the respective industry and on a risk‐adjusted basis, for the six years and the ten years ended 30 June 2006. Several tests were carried out to see whether or not the sample contained a value/growth/core/large cap bias.

The results were impressive: stocks from companies with “value‐driven CSR” clearly outperformed the market and their peers over extensive periods of time, with reasonably low risk.

There are several limitations of this type of analysis ranging from those inherent in the Capital Asset Pricing Model, to the fact that other cultures might define corporate responsibility differently.

The CSR² model introduced suggests how CSR can generate value reflected in the stock market. If so, the markets can prove to be an effective tool in regulating externalities related to pollution or global warming.

This chapter provides an overview of ways the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) has influenced the development, structure, and functions of independent children’s rights organizations (ICRIs). Employing theoretical perspectives of New Institutionalism and World Society Approach and other concepts from institutional theories, this chapter explores explanations of isomorphic impacts of ENOC on ICRIs. This chapter examines how ENOC membership criteria have influenced ICRIs and their work, how ENOC’s influences on ICRIs may be tied to deterring decoupling from the symbolic promises nation states make when ratifying children’s rights instruments, and how agendas at ENOC annual meetings foster focused attention and work of ICRIs on specific substantive issues relevant to the promotion of children’s rights. That ENOC has served as a model organization of ICRIs suggests worldwide influences on the promotion of children’s rights.

Discrimination takes the form of continuing segregation and exclusion in society. Prison staffs are actively encouraged to be anti‐discriminatory. Offenders are one group discriminated against by society; estimates have been as high as 90% of offenders also having mental health problems. People with mental illness are also discriminated against, therefore offenders with mental illness are at greater risk of being discriminated against. This article explores how quality assurance models could be used as a means of improving anti‐discriminatory practice in prison settings.

The concept of a company's cost of capital is used in capital budgeting as a potential basic discount rate to be applied to expected future cash flows from a proposed investment project being subjected to evaluation for acceptance or rejection. Discounted‐cash‐flow capital budgeting techniques derive from valuation theory that determines present value of expected future cash flows by discounting them down to the present at a discount rate appropriate to the degree of risk involved. Conceptually, this is true with regard to both domestic investment and foreign direct investment. However, there is recognition in the literature that capital budgeting for foreign direct investment decisions may involve complexities not present in the domestic case. These include economic, financial, and political factors, and related risks, e.g., foreign exchange risk, blocked currencies, expropriation. On the other hand, foreign direct investment is thought to provide diversification benefits, so that risks that are not domestically diversifiable are internationally diversifiable, thereby eliminating some otherwise systematic risk. Complexities such as these place a considerable burden upon the concept of cost of capital as a discount rate appropriately reflective of the degree of risk involved in a foreign direct investment project. Furthermore, cost of capital may be affected by environmental factors associated with what country the parent corporation calls “home” (Stonehill and Dullum).

The philosophical arguments for adopting Logistics Management as an organisational concept are formidable. They embrace thinking which envisages an organisation as a whole rather than as a series of elements. They promote the idea of effective collaboration between the various elements of a system towards the achievement of commonly agreed objectives. They indicate the problems caused by attempting to optimise at the “element” level rather than in respect of the enterprise as a whole. And they imply that many problems occur between departments (elements') rather than in them.